Meditation for Beginners to Improve Concentration
Losing your focus? Keep on target with this simple meditation for beginners
After writing the guide on how to meditate for beginners, I’ve received feedback from a few people who have experienced difficulty concentrating during their meditation. Their minds are often busy jumping from one thought to another like a hyperactive child, instead of focusing on their breaths. This is totally understandable for those who have never meditate before. Just like developing any other soft skill, it takes time and patience to build up concentration, especially if you’ve a short attention span to begin with. By carry on practicing the breathing meditation in the beginners’ guide, you’ll gradually find it easier to stay with your breaths without being distracted by the thoughts in your mind.
The problem which the few of them have faced is not unusual. A scattered and undisciplined mind full of haphazard thoughts and mental illusions is common. But it doesn’t have to be this way. To engage in any serious learning, we need to be able to apply our concentration on one thing for a period of time. And more importantly, we need to have an unflinching concentration to see through the meanings behind the superficial knowledge we’ve gathered in order to gain deeper insights.
There are in fact some meditation techniques that are very effective in honing one’s ability to concentrate. In this article, I will introduce a variation of the breathing meditation that can help you to develop higher concentration.
Meditation to Improve Concentration
Before we begin, it’s important to be patient and not give yourself undue pressure while you’re going through this meditation. Remember: You’re not competing with anyone for anything, not even yourself. Your aim is to enhance your concentration skill, not to get frustrated or stressed up. And that will only happen with repeated training, including repeated “mess-up”.
Breath Counting Meditation
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Settle down in a place where you won’t be distracted and interrupted. Sit down on a cushion or a chair with clothing suited to your environment. Close your eyes completely, or half close them with your gaze directed downwards. Your back should be neutral, which means no slouching and no leaning backward.
Tip: Many people aren’t aware that our back comprises the neck as well. A common error made by many beginners is to lower their head so low that at the end of their meditation, they find their neck strained and painful. If you’re having the same experience, simply lift your chin higher, but not so high that you can feel your head tilting backward. You can check your posture in the mirror by sitting side way and making sure that your back, including your neck, forms a natural curve that looks like a gentle “S”. Alternatively, ask someone to correct your sitting posture.
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Take a few slow and deep breaths now. Don’t worry if your initial couple of breaths are quick and shallow. Don’t rush or panic. It’s perfectly normal, especially if you’re used to shallow breathing. When your lungs slowly expand with increased air intake, your breaths will deepen and slow down.
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When your breathing is slow and deep, start counting each breath silently. One complete breath comprises of one inhale and one exhale. Count “1″ as you breathe in and breathe out. Count “2″ when you breathe in and breathe out again, and so on. When you reach “7″, start all over again and begin from “1″ again. Repeat this 3 times.
The rule of this meditation is, every time you lost count, either of the number of repetitions or the sets you’ve completed, you must start from “1″ again.
In total, you should have taken at least 21 complete breaths in one sitting.
Note: When you find it almost effortless to complete 3 sets of 7 breaths without losing count, gradually extend 7 breaths to 14, 21, 28 and so on.
The Key to Better Concentration
This meditation is deceptively simple. Although the steps are easy to follow, you’ll find yourself losing count often if you don’t pay enough attention. On the other hand, the more you force yourself to remember the number of repetitions or sets by heart, the harder it is to concentrate.
So how can you count your breaths without getting distracted in this meditation?
The key is to strike a balance between too little and too much concentration. Rest your mind gently on your counts; don’t try to hold it too gently or too tightly.
With practice as well as patience, you’ll be able to tell the difference between the two states of attention and know the exact mental strength you need to apply on your object of concentration.
thank you 4 the technique
this is a really great guide for beginners, breathing is one of the most important aspects of the developmental approach to meditation and so including it as a means to aid concentration and relaxation is bang on the mark.
bless you
Thanks for your encouragement, Rob. I’m glad you find the article useful for beginners.